Hundreds of residents in London homes close to Grenfell Tower are facing a cold Christmas after council chiefs told them the cladding on two tower blocks was a “substantial” fire hazard and must be removed without delay.

RICS welcomes the announcement by the Secretary of State, James Brokenshire, at the Conservative Party Conference, banning combustible cladding on all new schools, hospitals, care homes, student accommodation and residential buildings above 18m.

Five reports have been published at the start of the fact-finding stage of the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, in which 72 people died. They cover the tower's safety measures, how the fire spread and the evacuation. Here are the key findings.

The freeholder of the Croydon Citiscape apartment block, which is linked to the property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz, has said it is not obliged to fund the works, while the management company is arguing leaseholders should pay.

The US firm that supplied cladding used on London's Grenfell Tower says it has ended global sales of the product for use in high-rise blocks.
Arconic said it was discontinuing sales of Reynobond PE for tower blocks due to "issues" identified by the fire, which is feared to have killed at least 79.